The 29th Hunter Region Sporting Hall of Fame will be inducting seventeen Hunter athletes on Thursday, 5th August at Belmont Golf Club.
The Hunter Region Sporting Hall of Fame is made up of over 350 top athletes who have represented Australia or competed in an international tournament and were born and/or played in the Hunter region at the junior or senior level.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic at time of event, the 2020 event was unable to be held. This year will see the induction of seven inductees from 2020 and ten from 2021.
The following athletes will be recognized and receive the elite honour of being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Those to be inducted are:
2020
- Judith Tynan – Touch Football
- Roy Urpeth – Speedway Racing
- Karyne Di Marco (nee Perkins) – Track & Field (Hammer Throw)
- Bob (Robert) Schroder * – Sailing
- Paul Geale – Speedway Racing
- Amanda Bradley – Ten Pin Bowling
- Jack Pearce* – Speedway Side Car
2021
- Adam Clarke – Speedway
- Shaun Swadling – Trampoline
- Anthony Peden – Cycling
- Corey Brown – Jockey
- Craig Bird – Aussie Rules
- Luke Egan – Surfing
- Henry Maunder* – Football
- Tonny Jensen – Basketball
- Ben Behrends*- Surf Life Saving
- Bill Behrends*– Surf Life Saving
*Deceased
The 2020/21 intake of athletes will join the likes of well-known Novocastrian’s Jenni Screen, Ray Baartz, Mark Richards and Danny Buderus, to name a few.
Brett O’Farrell, Chief Executive Officer of the Hunter Academy said of the event, “HAS are very excited to yet again host the Hunter Region Sporting Hall of Fame. It is a great chance to recognize and celebrate the careers of athletes in the Hunter Region with their family and friends, and to honor the impact that sport has on our region.”
Doors to the event will open at 5.00pm where guests and inductees will be available for media opportunities, followed by formalities beginning at 6:00pm.
The inductees will share the night with twenty-five current HAS athletes, who will also be celebrating the announcement of Best and Fairest awards and the perpetual ‘Athlete of the Year’.